Amazon is doing a very good job of enticing people to buy the Kindle Fire. I opted to get a Kindle Touch instead of the Fire or an iPad. What's interesting is that I don't even think about getting an iPad.
I would have gotten one had Apple upgraded the camera for the iPad. But then the announcement for the Fire and Kindle Touch came out. All other tablet makers have been trying to compete with Apple by copying Apple. Amazon has created compelling reasons to consider it's devices and I think the strategy will be a great success. They aren't copying Apple.
What's shocking is how much Google has dropped the ball. They have Youtube and Google books and could have created compelling reasons to buy Android devices. I don't think about Youtube when I want to rent a movie I can't get on Netflix. It's clear that pretty soon I'll ditch Netflix and just go with Amazon Prime. This is even more likely given that books will be part of Amazon Prime.
You weren't interested in the iPad, were interested in the Kindle Fire, but got a touch instead? Is that right? I've got the HP Touchpad, and don't really use it. I don't think the tablet market is as important as the marketing hype is saying it is. I suspect we are going to see more dedicated touch devices for specific uses, like the kindle (non-fire) rather than the do-everything tablets that you'll just take everywhere.
As far as Google dropping the ball on the YouTube/Netflix thing, YouTube wasn't about renting or watching full length videos. It is very difficult to occupy two concepts in the consumers mind. YouTube was always about UGC, so the transition to now also having mainstream content was always going to be a huge challenge for google and opportunity for competitors. At the same time, I don't think Google has yet released a compelling 'store' for getting content. what do you think?
> I suspect we are going to see more dedicated touch devices for specific uses, like the kindle (non-fire) rather than the do-everything tablets that you'll just take everywhere.
Just like we have a mobile phone and an mp3 player and a GPS, right? I see the exact opposite trend, and I think amazon does too, hence the fire.
I had been thinking about getting an iPad. But iPad has some deficiencies which kept me on the fence. I was hoping for an update but none came. Then Amazon came out with its announcement. I ended up preordering a Kindle Touch but now am thinking about a Fire/Amazon Prime combination. I'm not thinking about the iPad anymore.
I've thought that Google should buy Netflix and have Netflix handle the consumer aspects of Google.
It might be hard to transition YouTube to include a service that rents/streams movies but Google is trying that right now. They haven't advertised it well and they didn't try doing this until recently. They've moved slowly.
Amazon and Netflix have very good customer service. When there is a problem I can get it fixed. I don't trust Google with customer service and this is why I can't ever see myself using a paid Google service. Google has dropped the ball in this respect. They have a great brand in YouTube and could have a great brand in Google Books but they just can't seem to create an atmosphere where consumers go to them for their purchases.
You realize that eInk (which is what most ereaders use) is basically only for reading books, right? You can't watch movies or even really browse very comfortably with it, due to the very, very slow screen refresh. The other side of that coin is that it's fantastic for actually reading, and you're not tempted to go check your email every 5 minutes.
I would have gotten one had Apple upgraded the camera for the iPad. But then the announcement for the Fire and Kindle Touch came out. All other tablet makers have been trying to compete with Apple by copying Apple. Amazon has created compelling reasons to consider it's devices and I think the strategy will be a great success. They aren't copying Apple.
What's shocking is how much Google has dropped the ball. They have Youtube and Google books and could have created compelling reasons to buy Android devices. I don't think about Youtube when I want to rent a movie I can't get on Netflix. It's clear that pretty soon I'll ditch Netflix and just go with Amazon Prime. This is even more likely given that books will be part of Amazon Prime.